Inexperienced Temescal Canyon team sets off in defense of CIF title with shaky victory

And it just might be the biggest obstacle standing between the Temescal Canyon High girls water polo team and a third consecutive section championship.

Temescal Canyon, which lost six starters from last season’s championship squad, started the postseason on the right foot Wednesday with a 9-6 victory over Yucaipa in the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division V playoffs.

The Titans overcame a shaky first half to notch their ninth consecutive postseason victory.

“We got the win; that’s the most important thing,” Temescal Canyon coach Brendon Barrow said. “Our goal today was to advance to the next round, and we accomplished that.

“We opened up with a little bit of CIF playoff jitters, but they got back into their groove in the second half.”

Temescal Canyon never trailed, but the game was tied 3-3 at halftime after Yucaipa scored two consecutive goals in the final minutes of the first quarter.

A pair of goals by sophomore Kora Wade early in the fourth period proved to be the difference. Wade found the back of the net twice during a 49-second span to give the Titans what proved to be an insurmountable lead.

The outcome was positive for a Titans team that, in addition to its youth, was battling the injury bug. Two starters will miss the rest of the season because of injuries.

“We had some of our younger girls step up today, and they are doing a good job filling in the spots that they need to.” Barrow said. “With every game, they are developing and improving.”

One of those was Wade, who scored four goals and made four steals. Senior Melissa Woody, the lone returning starter from last season’s team, added three goals and two assists.

Woody said the lack of playoff experience was evident.

“It seemed like we had a lot of hesitation, but we are working on it,” Woody said. “Now we know what to expect and we will come out ready to play on Saturday.”

Senior goalkeeper Tatiana Ziska, who made eight saves, said that despite the nerves, she thought the team handled the situation well.

“In the beginning, we were just overthinking it,” Ziska said. “Once we got calmed down, we were able to make some progress and put the game away.”

Temescal Canyon (16-3) advanced to Saturday’s quarterfinals, in which it will meet the winner of the match between Downey Warren and Pasadena.